Louvre museum to remain shut after spectacular heist as hunt for thieves continues

The Louvre Museum successful Paris will stay closed connected Monday pursuing a daring robbery successful which 8 priceless royal jewels were stolen successful conscionable 7 minutes.

Police are still connected nan hunt for nan four-person commando portion responsible for 1 of nan boldest creation heists nan world has seen successful years.

The robbery took spot connected Sunday greeting astir 9:30 am, half an hr aft nan depository had opened its doors.

The thieves utilized a motortruck equipped pinch a assistance to break into nan Galerie d’Apollon, location to immoderate of France’s astir historical treasures.

Armed pinch disk cutters, they smashed 2 show cases — 1 containing Napoleon’s jewels and nan different nan crown jewels of French monarchs — earlier fleeing connected 2 scooters.

Investigators later recovered tools, gloves, and 2 of nan stolen pieces, including nan damaged crown of Empress Eugénie. The crown, made of gold, features much than 1,300 diamonds. The 2nd portion has not yet been identified.

According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, nan thieves were highly skilled and perchance connected to an organised crime network.

A squad of astir 60 investigators from Paris’s anti-gang portion and nan Office for Combating Cultural Property Trafficking are now starring nan hunt.

The stolen jewels are astir intolerable to waste connected nan unfastened market. Authorities are investigating whether nan heist was commissioned by a 3rd statement aliases if nan thieves intended to usage nan stones for money laundering.

Shock and awe

The heist has sparked beardown reactions from politicians and visitors alike.

Tourists were near disappointed connected Monday greeting arsenic a agelong queue formed extracurricular nan closed museum.

Rodrigo and Alicia, a mates from Spain, told Euronews they had bought their tickets 1 period ago.

"It is frustrating, we were really looking guardant to visiting nan Louvre for nan first time," they said successful an interview.

Elaine and Christina, 2 sisters from Ireland, did not hide their fascination pinch nan audacious heist.

"It feels for illustration we're a portion of history, we conscionable can't moreover judge it. It's astonishing and shocking astatine nan aforesaid time. It's sad, and of people I dream they drawback nan group that did it, but for maine it benignant of heightens my experience," said Elaine.

The French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin described nan robbery arsenic sending a very antagonistic image of France to nan world, saying nan nationalist feels “personally robbed” by nan theft.

French President Emmanuel Macron called nan theft “an onslaught connected a practice we cherish."

The far-right National Rally described nan robbery arsenic an “humiliation” and a “wound to nan French soul." The party's figurehead, Marine Le Pen, said connected X, "Our museums and historical buildings are not secured to nan level of nan threats weighing connected them. We must react."

On nan left, erstwhile French President François Hollande urged authorities to attraction connected search down nan thieves alternatively than inflaming governmental controversy.

Security concerns astatine nan Louvre person already been raised aggregate times complete nan past fewer years.

In June, depository workers went connected onslaught to protestation unit shortages that compromised security, highlighting vulnerabilities confirmed by a caller study by France’s Cour des comptes — nan country's highest audit institution.

The study revealed that successful nan Denon wing, wherever nan Galerie d’Apollon and nan Mona Lisa are located, 1 successful 3 rooms has nary surveillance cameras.

The Louvre, which welcomes much than 8 cardinal visitors annually, has besides faced long-running infrastructure issues.

Leaks, mediocre insulation, and overcrowding person prompted calls for renovation, and French President Macron announced plans for a major overhaul earlier this year.

The “Louvre New Renaissance” plan, a decade-long, €700 cardinal project, intends astatine modernising nan museum’s infrastructure, easing crowding, and giving nan Mona Lisa a dedicated assemblage by 2031.